


Goodbyes

by darkgaaraluver



Series: Broken Heart on His Sleeve [2]
Category: Free!
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, M/M, Momo actually punches someone this time
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-26
Updated: 2016-01-26
Packaged: 2018-05-16 08:46:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5822098
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darkgaaraluver/pseuds/darkgaaraluver
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Momo punches someone and goodbyes are finally said.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Goodbyes

Momo stared at the door in front of him. He had a plan. He was on a mission. He was not going to punch someone. He had left Ai asleep on his bunk when he had snuck over here so he had to succeed. He raised his hand.

Before he could actually bring his hand down to knock, the door opened on its own. Sousuke’s face appeared in the crack between the door and the wall as it opened and blinked down at Momo in confusion. In the back of his mind Momo figured it was probably warranted considering it was about four in the morning.

Momo could barely think through the blood rush pounding through his ears. He had no idea he would get this mad at just the sight of Sousuke’s stupid face. Ai’s tear-streaked face as he lay on his bed after crying himself to sleep flashed through his mind briefly, then he just saw red. The next thing he knew his arm was flying back from where he held it and Sousuke only had time to widen his eyes in surprise as Momo’s fist rocketed toward his face.

Momo was a lot smaller than Sousuke, but swimming had given him muscles too. Enough that when he hit Sousuke directly in the face he let go of the door and staggered back into the room. Momo wasn’t done though. He followed Sousuke into the room and tackled him to the floor, Sousuke not able to stop his descent because his hands had gone up to his face.

The noise had woken up Rin who immediately bolted out of bed and ran over to pry Momo off of Sousuke where he was sitting on Sousuke’s stomach, punching any bit of him he could reach, Sousuke trying to block with his arms and largely failing. Rin grabbed Momo around his chest to drag him off, but when Momo saw who it was he was almost blinded by the additional rage and got a good one right to Rin’s face. Rin was off balance already and smaller than Sousuke and went down backwards immediately. Sousuke was filled with rage in turn, seeing his boyfriend knocked down and seized his chance while Momo was distracted to flip them over and then use his new leverage to pin Momo to the ground, his hands above his head, Momo yelling and cursing the whole time.

Rin sat up, holding his face, to see what the heck was going on. Momo was still struggling, but the more he struggled the tighter Sousuke held him down until Momo yelled in pain and stilled on the floor, breathing heavily.

Rin was the first to break the new tense silence left in the wake of all the pained yells and sounds of flesh hitting flesh. “What the fuck Momo? It’s four in the goddamn morning. What on Earth could Sousuke have done to you?”

Momo started crying. He didn’t really know why. Maybe the stress was getting to him, or maybe he was crying for Ai. Whatever the case he couldn’t stop it now and it just made him angrier. He strained against Sousuke’s hold, but Sousuke knew better than to let him go yet.  
“It’s not me he did anything to its Ai! But Ai’s too good of a person to confront anyone so I’m doing it for him! And it’s not just Sousuke either! It’s you too Rin!”

Sousuke and Rin looked at each other in confusion and worry before turning their attention back to Momo. Seeing the look and the way they could communicate silently just upset Momo more. What did he really think he could do here? It’s been clear to Momo since day one that these two were made for each other, it’s not as if he could ask them to give that up for Ai. And even if he did ask them and they did break up so Rin could date Ai what good would it really do? Rin and Sousuke were leaving in a couple hours. Ai had waited too long already and nothing Momo could do would fix it.

Momo went completely limp, drained from everything and just tired. Momo was now remembering again through the angry haze that he loved all his friends and even if Ai got his happy ending someone would still be miserable. It wasn’t up to him which friend got hurt. He felt a sob rack his body. He hated being stuck in the middle like this. And sobbing all over Rin and Sousuke’s floor after beating them up was mortifying but he couldn’t stop.

When Momo sobbed Sousuke quickly let go of his wrists. Momo brought them down over his face to hide his crying. Sousuke looked to Rin to tell him what he should do and Rin put a hand on both Sousuke and Momo’s shoulders. Sousuke carefully got off Momo and Momo turned on his side and curled up, knocking Rin’s hand off.

Momo sobbed himself out while Sousuke and Rin just sat there, not knowing what to do. It only lasted a few minutes, but everyone felt as if it had been an eternity.

When Momo stopped he wiped at his eyes and crawled up so he could sit facing them, leaning against one of their desks. Nobody could look each other in the eye for several moments in awkwardness. It was Sousuke who broke the silence.

“Momo, what has you so upset you’d come here at four in the morning to punch me in the face? What’s been going on?”  
Rin nodded, agreeing with Sousuke’s first line of questioning and turning to stare really hard at Momo.

Momo took a deep breath in and out. They both deserved to know what was going on. If Ai wasn’t going to tell Rin and Rin was leaving in a few hours it was up to Momo to tell Rin. It’s all gone on long enough, it’s hurt enough people. Momo was going to start at the beginning and deal with the consequences later. It’s what he was known for after all, rushing in head first.

He made good eye contact with Rin and the Sousuke as he prepared to start. “It’s Ai.”

Rin made a noise when he stopped there. “You mentioned Ai earlier is he okay? If something happened to him and I’m just now finding out heads will roll!”

Momo smiled humorlessly at the irony. “Right now he’s asleep in our room.”

Rin nodded. “I’m guessing there’s some sort of but to this.”

Momo took another deep breath. “He-he followed you out of the party. He’s been in love with you since before he’d even properly met you Rin-senpai. Since you’re leaving tomorrow he wanted to tell you before he lost his chance, but instead he caught you and Sousuke-senpai kissing and got really upset.”

Rin looked like someone sucker punched him in the stomach. Sousuke closed his eyes briefly and sighed. Momo could tell that Sousuke had already known and the thought made him pulse again with anger.

“You already knew! Are you kidding me right now?!?!” Momo screamed and pointed in Sousuke’s face in accusation.

Sousuke opened his eyes to stare straight down at Momo until he dropped his hand. “Of course I knew about Ai. Two minutes with him and I suspected. I wasn’t absolutely sure until I found him crying on the stairs after he was rejected from swimming the relay. He practically told me. That’s the main reason I helped him train in the first place. I respected him more when I realized we loved the same person.”

Sousuke turned so he could look a still paralyzed Rin in the eyes. “But nothing could make me give up Rin, not unless he gives up on me first. Ai had a whole year to tell him before I even got here and he didn’t say anything. We all split up in a few hours. I couldn’t leave Rin again without telling him how much he means to me.”

Sousuke’s words calmed Rin down the longer he spoke. Rin swallowed loudly before turning back to Momo. “You should go be with him again. The last thing he probably needs right now is to wake up alone. I have a train to catch at eight but I’ll be damned if I leave things like this. Bring him down to the front gates by seven okay? I’ve gotta talk to him before I leave.”

Momo opened his mouth to protest. Scream some more maybe. God, he hated this so much.

Before he got anything out though Rin cut him off mid-sentence. “I’m not going to hurt him, I promise.”

Momo closed his mouth and got up to leave. Rin and Sousuke standing as well to watch him go. Momo was just going to leave. He was.  
He had the door opened halfway before he got the better of himself and turned around to glare at Rin. “If you do hurt him I’ll do more than just punch you again.”

Sousuke’s eye’s widened in surprise and Rin actually backed up a step at the look on his face. It was so filled with blazing intent and pent up anger. Momo was usually so full of energy and laughter the change was frightening. They’d never seen this side of him before.  
Momo shut the door after him hard and focused immediately on getting back to Ai, the picture of him sleeping on his bunk again in the forefront of his mind.

He missed what Sousuke whispered to Rin just as the door swung shut. “Maybe you don’t have to worry about your sister so much anymore…”

 

Momo went right back to his room and slowly cracked the door open, peeking in before he actually went to see if Ai had woken up. Momo sighed quietly when he saw that the only thing Ai had done was turn over so he was facing the wall.

He crept in and shut the door as softly as he could behind him. Then he toed his shoes off and gently tossed them in the corner, not caring about them in the least at that moment.

He walked over to the bed and stared at Ai. Not thinking anything, his mind too stressed to hold a thought. He just looked. He rubbed a hand down his face before he crawled in behind Ai and wrapped his arms around his stomach. The last thought he had as he settled his head down so his chin could sit on Ai’s soft hair was that he just hoped no one got hurt tomorrow. Then he drifted off, knowing that he’d already set his alarm to go off two hours from now so that he could say goodbye to his friends. He already knew he’d be saying goodbye to two of them, he hoped he wouldn’t be saying goodbye to the third one too.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Momo didn’t wait for Ai to fully wake up after the alarm went off. He didn’t want to try and explain to a groggy and stressed Ai where exactly he was dragging him so early in the morning. Ai was actually so asleep when they left Momo had to help him get his shoes on and then drag him out the door.

The farther they went the more awake Ai seemed to get, but he wasn’t to the point of asking where they were headed until they were already there. His eyes widening in panic when he saw the school gates and just who was on the other side, waiting for them with his hands in his pockets and a heavy looking duffle bag next to his feet on the grass. Sousuke was standing behind him silently, also with a bag slung over his shoulder. Momo could tell he’d seen them, but didn’t bother saying anything to Rin.

Ai tried to turn and run immediately, but Momo grabbed his shoulders and forcefully pushed him toward Rin, telling Ai over and over that it was for his own good while silently apologizing to him in his head. 

Rin lifted his head when they approached and looked Ai in the eye. Momo stopped pushing and backed up a couple steps. Ai immediately tried to stumble out some excuse, but got cut off before he’d even started properly by Rin’s lips coming down on his, Rin’s hands cupping the side of his face.

Momo looked on with wide eyes before remembering who else was here and swiveling to see how Sousuke was handling this. Sousuke saw Momo staring at him and turned from the spectacle in front of him to give him a half smile and a nod before turning back. Momo just let his disbelief flow through him for a minute, before he was interrupted by Ai moaning and a wet smacking sound as Rin pulled away from Ai.  
Rin and Ai stared at each other for several moments as Ai got redder and redder, his hands clenching and unclenching at his sides. Rin allowed himself to smirk for a moment before sighing and running a hand agitatedly through his hair.

Rin dropped his hand from his head and crossed his arms before breaching the silence that had fallen over the group. “Look Ai, I know I didn’t treat you very well last year. You did a lot to help me out, becoming my best friend here at school, trying to make me see sense. I can’t say I didn’t see at all that you liked me like that okay? But I was too wrapped up in my own problems to see two feet in front of me. Maybe if I hadn’t been… But it’s too late for maybes. This year Sousuke showed back up right at the beginning and… I’ve been in love with Sousuke since we were kids and I thought I’d never get another chance with him after I went to Australia. I thought I’d blown whatever slim chance I had with him by pushing that relay stuff. I couldn’t… I couldn’t just let this slip through my fingers, you know? And I can’t now. I can’t… I can’t return your feelings Ai. Not now at least.” Rin dropped his arms down to his sides and looked at the grass. “Maybe if Sousuke hadn’t come but…Anyway I figured everyone deserved to kiss their crush once at least. Figured it could be my goodbye present. Sousuke said it was fine.”

Ai was bright red and standing at attention looking as if he was going to cry. Then he made everyone jump slightly as he suddenly bowed low and practically shouted, “Thank you Rin-senpai! I love you and will miss you while you’re gone!”

Grins slid slowly onto everyone’s faces, Rin most of all as he went up to Ai and ruffled his hair. As Ai’s head came up Momo could see that he was smiling, but that tears had started rolling down his face.  
“I always cry at these sort of things too, nothing to be ashamed of.” Sosuke started laughing under his breath like this was some kind of inside joke. Rin turned from smiling down at Ai to scowling up at Sousuke. “Shut up! I wasn’t talking to you! No one asked for your input!” Sousuke’s laughing died down a bit as he turned away.

While Rin was yelling at Sousuke Ai jumped up and hugged him around the shoulders. Rin wasn’t expecting it and staggered back a foot or two under the weight. Rin put one arm around his waist and kept the other on the back of his head. Ai was still crying. “You’ll make a great captain next year okay Ai? And me and Sousuke will come visit. This isn’t the last you’ll ever see of us. Of me. We gotta come make sure our favorite team is doing okay. You gotta kick Rei and Nagisa’s team’s butts."

Rin gently pushed Ai back until he was at arm’s length with Rin’s hands on his shoulders. “You’ll find someone else who cares about you as much as you’ll care about them okay?” Rin’s eyes slid from Ai’s up until they locked on Momo’s whose eyes widened in response. “Maybe even someone right in front of you.” Rin smirked.

Momo could feel himself blushing as he glanced over at Sousuke who was also smirking at him with a raised eyebrow. Well. That’s something to think about Momo thought.

Rin let go of Ai with a small pat and picked up his bag. “Me and Sousuke have a train to catch now all right? We’ll see you later.”

Momo scoffed. “What no goodbye for the rest of us?” Momo put on his best shit eating grin. “ I demand tongue too it’s only fair Rin-senpai!”

Rin dropped his bag and walked up to Momo. “You’ll get a hug and like it Momo, you pain in my ass. You’re definitely no Ai.”

Rin whispered in his ear while they were hugging. “Stay away from my sister while I’m gone and take care of Ai alright?”

Momo let go of Rin with a nod. He’d make sure he took care of Ai. As for staying away from Gou… Well we’ll see.

Rin picked up his bag again and started heading off. Sousuke paused to nod at Ai and Momo. Momo put a hand on his arm to stop him. “No hard feelings about that punch? I don’t know what came over me, but that’s no way to send a teammate off.”

Ai heard this and started sputtering. “W-what! That’s what happened to his nose! B-but, Momo-kun!

Sousuke smiled. “I’m going to have a have a badly bruised nose for a while, but I understand. I don’t like seeing my friends upset either. I’m glad things worked out.”

Sousuke held out his hand and Momo used it to pull Sousuke in for a hug, to his surprise. When they pulled apart Ai had calmed down and walked over. “Thank you for all your help this year Sousuke-senpai. I couldn’t have swam in the relay without your help. And thank you as well for allowing Rin-senpai to w-well, t-to k-kiss me.”

Ai was a blushing mess again, staring down at the ground. Momo saw that Sousuke was actually smiling kindly down at him and sighed loudly before throwing himself at Ai and dragging Sousuke down into it. He felt a weight hit the group and realized Rin had come running back to join the group hug. It was perfect.

Rin and Sousuke only just made their train.

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote the sequel where Momo gets to punch someone that people asked for! Sorry it took so long!


End file.
